CHEAP do it yourself intake!

[DaTduDe]

Alright, theres been a lot of good ideas on here for free and cheap intake mods, but i thought mine worked exceptionally well, and it looks about as professional as you could ask for. This was done on a 2000 3.8L, and is applicable for 99-02. I went to home depot and picked up two 3" pvc couplers (they're made of a hard thick rubber and each have a belt clamp on either end). I also got a small length of 3" pvc piping. after removing the stock air silencer and rubber fittings, I clamped one of the couplers onto the throttle body (fits like a glove!) the other side of that is connected to the pvc pipe. That whole assembly is connected to the air box lid in the same fashion (it took a little bit of coaxing to get the 3" coupler over the oblong opening for the airbox lid, but well worth the work). Then i just cut a hole on one of the rubber fittings and popped the sensor in. I shaved the fins off of the inside of my airbox. I'm not sure if im the first to notice this, but if you use a pair of pliers those fins break off almost perfectly flush with the lid, and with minimal sanding it was smooth as I could have hoped for. I also did the free ram air mod, and topped the whole shebang off with the SLP air filter, for the extra flow and usability. All in all i spent about $65.00, $50 of which was the filter alone, my car sounds much more agressive, and the performance increase is very noticeable. I will post pictures soon!

[DaTduDe]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

Also, I ordered my filter off of ebay, and it was brand new, but i never got any user instructions. So do SLP filters need cleaning and oiling solutions? how do you clean them, and with the ram air mod how often should i clean it? Here are some pictures, if anyone was wondering what it looks like...

[loser]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

very nice job, i wish i had a straight throttle body. glad to see you noticed a sound and performance difference, seems like your happy with it.

[camaroz87]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

can anyone find a way to do that with the angled throttle body : (

[RadRacer]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

can anyone find a way to do that with the angled throttle body : (

I know how ya feel man. Seems the only option for us mainly is the SLP CAI, and I don't want that, I want a lid on my car......

And here's a link for cleaning stuff for it

[jrschultz]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

Excellent idea. I'll be doing that to my 99 Bird soon.

[av6xperience]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

what i did was buy the intake ducting tube for 20, its a plastic like material and can flex all directions, bought a spectre filter for 25 and some clamps and used a coupler to connect to throttle body. took maybe 25 mins and filter is now located behind near front left wheel. i noticed an increase in power throughtout rpm range and u can hear it "sucking" at idle. its surprisingly loud too

[6-Speeder]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

Hey I was trying to make 3" tubing for my 98 FB, so far i have found 4" to 3" black rubber tubing that works with the filter box and a curved 3" tube that fits the TB, so im trying to figure out what exactly i can use to connect the two that wont restrict the flow, i spent a long time in Home Depot the other day and was so close with the PCV pipes but just couldnt find anything, any suggestions anyone? Or a better way to work with the 98s TB for this mod?

[Tech]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

I did the sceptre tubing and filter but it sucked and didnt seem much faster. I then returned those parts and picked up 2 couplers for about 10 bucks. Fitting the 3 inch coupler onto the air lid seemed impossible, my dad helped me and we used a heater gun (blowdryer hahah...) and eventually got it on. Then we just drilled a hole in the rubber and shoved the air sensor in. It was a really tight fit and you kind of just have to force the air lid shut, then tighten down the hose clamps. Also did the ram air and removed fins. I'm sure the K&N filter did nothing but good for this mod also. Took my friend out around town and he said he didnt notice that much, just a little quicker. Well I was only giving it about 3/4 throttle took it out on a newly paved backroad, running up in 2nd gear 1/2 throttle and punched it at 2200 RPM and ohhh my it sounded so freakin sweet. Also once I went into 3rd gear it pulled way better from 50 MPH to 80 MPH, same with 4th, but I let off at 107 he he. Well, half a tank of gas gone later we headed in town and got some food (Taco Bell ftw). One of the many best nights of my life :D.

[6-Speeder]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

So these two couplers fit on your angled TB? And did you get this from home depot or where? How did the two couplers connect? I dont totally understand what you did. But it sounds like you had fun, and isn't quicker what we all want lol?

[Tech]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

I think my TB is pretty much straight through...its a 99 3.8...but it was kind of a tight fit

[6-Speeder]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

Well the 98s have an angled TB that points down and twoards the driver side a little bit, so i have to use some extra tubes to get it to work, however i cant figure out what would work to get the two couplers connected or i cant find that one pcv part. Also if you have the ram air mod did you make your own box connected to the air box, i may skip the TB issue for now and work on that if i can find a metal box to fit down there. If anyone has done anything like that repsond please.

[camaro19]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

nice clean job. i did pretty much the same thing. cheap+performance=awesomeness

[Tech]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

Yeah mine is off to the drivers side a little bit. easiest way for me was to loosen the clamps around the PVC pipe and then close the air box (had to use a lot of force, no problems though) and then tigthen down the hose clamps. I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

[Tech]

Re: CHEAP do it yourself intake!

For the ram air I just cut the plastic rectangles out...I thought about ordering the ram air kit but it seems like it blocks quite a bit of the air from flowing through your radiator...anyways once you hit 3rd you will feel the difference and it will pull a lot harder. I feel an awesome gain slamming 3rd at 50-55 MPH and pulling in 3rd to 80 MPH. Of course every gear pulls harder but 3rd now seems to be my sweet spot.